The Last Frost

China is poised to take the title of top emitter of greenhouse gases away from the United States either this year or in 2008, and boy did they catch up fast.

This is just one reason why Kyoto has taken so much flak from the conservative right. China is exempt from the Kyoto Protocol, so what sense does it really make? Their argument is that it hurts our economy in relation to developing countries. There are a lot of good arguments on both sides actually.

I guess my point is that this latest news shows how Kyoto really isn't and was never the answer to our problem of global climate change. It's too exclusive and it's not aggressive enough. We need a binding international agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions EVERYWHERE and in much larger quantities than ever previously considered. If the US shut down all emissions tomorrow, there would still be China, and soon there will be India and the rest of the developed world who will go on polluting. The problem is massive and it needs a massive solution.

Otherwise we may be doomed to witness the graph depicted in the image above becoming reality. (Image borrowed from chinahousing.mit.edu)

China: Top generator of greenhouse gases – [FreeMarketNews.com]

A memo sent to The New York Times seems to show an obvious attempt to control the flow of information regarding climate change and polar wildlife by this administration. It was circulated at the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service and require a "spokesman" be named before any trip is conducted for the sake of climate change. The idea being that only people who agree with a certain view will be allowed to speak out on the issues.

Certainly sounds like a roundabout way of gagging federal employees who don't agree with the current administrations view, disturbing stuff.

Memos Tell Officials How to Discuss Climate [New York Times]

Permafrost. So named because it's land that never thaws, that is until now. Satellite data is showing that there has been a 12% increase in lake area in Siberia between 1970 and 2004. The frost is melting and this threatens to release huge amounts of carbon and methane into the atmosphere furthering the problem. 

Siberia's Once-Frozen Tundra Is Melting – [Radio Free Europe]

So in the latest report on global climate change, the consensus is that global warming is inevitable and irreversible at this point. The only question left is how bad are we going to let it get? Unless we curb greenhouse gas emissions today we will be leaving our children with a vastly different planet than our parents gave us.

The truth? Unless we get a miraculous breakthrough in clean energy production, like… yesterday, we're in deep shit. It's amazing to me how short sighted and hypocritical our culture can be. We're so hell bent on the protection of our children at almost any cost, yet barely give a second thought towards the conservation of the world that we'll be leaving to them.

It's almost like we want global warming to happen. 

Global Warming Unstoppable, Report Says – [washingtonpost.com]

A senior policy official from the UK has said that climate change poses an even greater security threat to the world than ironically, the Cold War.

So how do you deal with an enemy when it's yourself?

He points to several recent and ongoing conflicts that may have a root cause in climate change, including the crisis in Darfur.

It's a good read that definitely got me thinking. 

Climate change creates security challenge 'more complex than Cold War' – [Janes.com]

So 13% of Americans reported that they have never read or heard anything about global warming. Perhaps even more disturbing is that American's ranked least likely in the world to rank global warming as a serious problem. It's disturbing because American's are the largest contributers to the problem, producing 25% of the world's greenhouse gases while representing only 5% of the population.

As enlightening as it is disturbing. 

13 pct of Americans not heard of global warming – [Reuters.com]

Vanity Fair has included an interesting photo in their 2006 year in photos magazine feature. Interesting because it's my home city, and interesting because it represents a remote yet plausible scenario due to global climate change.

I wonder when NYC will start construction on the 200ft sea wall to keep out the Atlantic, maybe right after they finish the 2nd Avenue subway line, or the 9/11 memorial for that matter. 

2006: The Year in Photos – [vanityfair.com]

Some more info on the Fourth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

"Each paragraph of this report was therefore argued over and scrutinised intensely. Only points that were considered indisputable survived this process. This is a very conservative document – that's what makes it so scary" [Guardian Unlimited]

The report suggests the following scenarios are extremely likely:

1. More intense storms  (not just hurricanes)
2. Sea level rise of a few feet
3. Melting of snow from all but the highest mountains.
4. Desertification will worsen.
5. Oceans will acidify, killing coral reefs.
6. Heatwaves will become more frequent.
7. Mass migrations of people and animals away from tropical regions will occur.

Global Warming the final verdict – [Guardian Unlimited]

It's rare these days that the American democratic process works in favor of environmental issues.  Exxon has recently been feeling the burn of a Democratic Congress, so much so they pulled the funding from many of their climate change "think tanks". Instead it's going to focus on what can be done to influence the actual policies that will affect them rather than denying there's a problem.

So in other word's their bullshit machine is moving underground where the public has to dig down deep to track.  

Exxon Yanks Funding from Global Warming Deniers – [Blue Mass Group]

The Doomsday clock which is maintained by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is set to move forward on January 17th due to increasing nuclear and climate threats. The last time it moved forward was in 2002, and today it stands at 7 minutes to midnight.

The group was founded in 1945 shortly after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, they created the clock 2 years later. The purpose of the clock is to illustrate how close our world is to destruction by nuclear war. It's interesting that a group so focused on nuclear issues is considering climate change in this latest move towards midnight. 

Their site at thebulletin.org, currently displays a splash page saying they'll be making a media announcement this Wednesday.  

Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward – [Reuters.com]